Racing the Wind
by HorseManiacNo.1
Summary: Fern Fieldings has always been affected by her past and curious as to where she came from. When, Sky and Zed Benedict's son comes into the mix she discovers things about herself that she never knew before. Fern and her best friend, a strong stallion called Spirit find themselves in a whirlwind of adventure. Will she discover who she truly is?
1. Chapter 1

Hooves hammered the ground at a death-defying rate. The beast felt only freedom and peace. His rider felt the wind through her hair and heard the screech of an eagle above her head. Both horse and rider felt as though they were flying with the eagle in a perfect rivalry, daring the other to go faster yet dancing together in complete harmony. The sun began to settle in the horizon and the pair found themselves bidding farewell to their loyal friend the Eagle, as they turned homeward bound.

I returned to the stables, hair tangled from the windy ride. Spirit, my faithful friend, had a small sheen of sweat over his coat yet showed no sign of fatigue. He held his head in a carefree manner, no troubles or woe's. It was often that I found myself with a degree of longing towards his way of life, yet that feeling never lasted long as Spirit never hesitated to involve me in his world. He has been my best friend from the age of 9. His mother was a wild horse, strong and brave. She passed away during the birth of Spirit, near our ranch and with the herd no-where in sight and no one to take care of the lost foal we took him in. My grandpa helped me to raise him and train him, and taught me everything I know about horses. He too passed in the summer of last year. I miss him a lot but I know that he never truly left us; his whole life was this ranch.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Fern Fielding and I live on my Grandpa's ranch, otherwise known as Bear Wallow Ranch in Glenwood Springs, Colorado with my mum, dad and two older brothers Charlie and Glen. We're known for our cattle mainly but we have a lot of land used for people to keep their horses with us for a fee. It is about now that I should tell you that I am in fact adopted. The Fielding family took me in when I was eight. The truth is, I am what is known as a savant, which is a person who has special gifts such as telepathy, telekinesis and one gift individual to you. Thanks to the social services system set up specifically for savants, the loving Fielding family who cared for me and taught me how to control my gift adopted me.

What is my gift you ask? Well, to put it simply, I can communicate with animals, but the line doesn't stop just there I can also feel there emotions. For example I can tell if they feel threatened or sick. Which is quite helpful when you love animals as much as I do. However as much as I understand animals there is one thing I just can't get my head around… people. I am not the most socially capable person you will ever meet, which is why my nerves were on a major high this evening. A new rider was joining our ranch today. Don't get me wrong, I speak to the people at our ranch but most of them have been there since I was adopted and it's not very often that we get new people arriving on our ranch. Ugh, just my luck, I arrived back just as the new arrivals drove in. To avoid any small talk and awkwardness, I rode Spirit straight into the barn and hid in our stable. Spirit knew about my awkwardness around other people and constantly pushed me into situations where I would have to speak to the same species as me but as much as he pushed me to fit in I just seemed to recoil into my shell like a turtle. This is why it was vital to get Spirit back to his stable so that he couldn't take me over to the new comers.

Just as I slid the stable door shut my only human friend, also best friend, came whizzing round the corner at full speed. Faheema had been my best friend, like spirit, since I arrived and even though I was shy and never talked, she never gave up on me and now when we're together I feel like I can talk to her about anything.

"Have you seen the new guy? I have never seen a specimen as god like as this and don't even get me started on his horse!" she squealed, currently unable to control the volume level of her voice.

"Sshh, I'm pretty sure half the ranch heard you if not the new guy himself. Also I know that you've been getting into your biology class but I'm pretty sure that calling a person a specimen can be slightly offensive."

"Yeah Yeah whatever spoil sport. Once you see him you will totally agree" she giggled, and as if on que we heard the sound of hooves walking through the barn door.

That's when I saw them, like out of the movies, swift and cool, the new guy/superhero walked in with his trusty mare. I suddenly understood Faheema's excitement, he was tall and broad, his t-shirt revealing just how much he worked out, soft hazel brown hair that formed waves around his face and dark blue eyes as deep as the sea. Cheesy I know but at the same time incredibly true. He caught me staring and I spotted a hint of amusement in his expression as he stared back. Just then, I realised he was asking me a question. WHAT? How am I supposed to respond? Why can't I be normal and social? Godammit.

"Which stable should I put Athena in?" He asked for a third time. It seems my friend Faheema had gone mute at the sight of this new comer, and with a small nudge in the elbow from spirit it seemed I was going to have to be brave.

"I'm sorry who?" I said with great force edging my voice.

"My horse Athena. Which stable should she go in?" I pondered for a minute and realised with dismay that the only stable free was the one opposite mine. With a shaking hand I pointed at it and said quietly,

"That one should be fine"

He seemed to grasp the fact that I was nervous and didn't ask anymore questions so I wordlessly left to the tack closet to get spirits feed. Faheema followed silently as though if we were to talk it would awaken some sort of beast.

When we reached the tack closet she hit me in the elbow right in the funny bone.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" she rolled her eyes and gave me a look that said 'you know exactly what that was for'. When it seemed I still wasn't getting the memo she explained,

"You spoke to a total stranger and it didn't take you a month to pluck up the courage. Do you not see that as the achievement that I do?"

"No I don't as I sounded like a dork. Also, since when did you become my therapist, I'm pretty sure I can take care of my own social incapability's."

"Nu uh missy. I have known you for 8 years and it took you just over 6 months to say a word to me. Come on this is a major step for you and besides did you not see the way he was looking at you; he didn't take his eyes off you, not even once. I know you didn't look back when we left the barn but I did and he was watching you leave."

"Ha ha very funny. He was staring because he was waiting for an answer besides I doubt he would have any interest in me."

"Okay whatever, believe what you want but I think there is something there, and at the very least please give yourself some credit for talking to him on the first day."

"Okay fine, I am kind of proud that I plucked up the courage. In celebration do you want to come over for dinner?"

"Sure I'd love to but would it be okay to stay the night my mum still isn't a fan of driving at night."

"Yeah that's cool, my parents pretty much accept you as part of the family anyway."

"Aww I know I'm just too cool. Haha. Well I'll let my mum know then I'll meet you back at the house."

"Alright, see you there." As she left and I made Spirits feed I suddenly realised that I was going to have to go back to the barn and face the new guy but this time, alone. With a sigh I accepted my fate and made my way back to barn.

When Spirit saw the bowl in my hand he whinnied in excitement and I couldn't help but laugh. That horse was too darn cute. I forgot about the new guy and went in to groom Spirit while he ate.

"That's a cool horse you got there." Startled by the deep enchanting voice I span around losing my balance and falling into the water trough.

"Oh my goodness! I am so sorry I didn't mean to startle you like that" He ran into the stable and helped me out of the trough apologising all the while. Spirit looked round at me and whinnied in amusement at my display and call it insanity or just plain shock, I started laughing and I couldn't seem to stop.

Once I got my breath back I stood up and nervously addressed the cause of all these strange events. "I'm sorry I don't really know why I'm laughing but I imagined it all looked quite funny for somebody watching"

He smiled kindly down at me from his great height.

"It's alright you don't need to apologise I was the one who caused it."

Then just like that, an awkward silence emerged, my one true nemesis. I was frantically searching for something to say when surprisingly he filled the gap for me.

"My name's Seth. Seth Benedict I'm really sorry that my introduction happened in this way."

"It's aright." Then my brain clicked. "Wait a minute, did you say Benedict as in _the_ Benedict's, from the savant net?"

He suddenly looked self-conscious and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that's us." A little embarrassed by his families well-known name amongst savants.

I knew about the Benedict family. They were an incredibly large family who did a lot of work for the savant net when it came to bringing down criminals. My mum had worked with them before as they live in Wrickenridge, which isn't too far away. "That's pretty cool my parents have worked with your family before. You guys do a lot of good work." I said matter-of-factly. What was going on with me? Since when have I ever been able to hold up a conversation with someone new for more than ten seconds without freaking out? Just as I was revelling in my success something in Seth's eyes changed. They turned guarded and zoned out. Obviously he wasn't a fan of my topic of interest. He avoided my eyes and said,

"Yeah whatever. I have to go. I'll see you around." He swiftly turned and marched out, shoulders hunched as though he had to carry the weight of the world on them.

"Yeah, see you around" I whispered more to myself than to him, as he was already gone.

Well… that went well.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Hello everyone (if anyone's reading). I hope that you guys liked my first chapter. I have never written for others to read before so I am incredibly nervous about it but I hope you all enjoy it and that you are grasped by the story. Also I have seen loads of fanfictions do disclaimers so…**

 **Disclaimer**

 **I do not own any of the characters from Joss Stirling's books, as Joss is way cooler than I can ever dream to be.** **ENJOY and SMILE!**

When I walked through the front door I was hit with the smell of delicious chilli con carne and the sound of laughter. However it seemed as though there were more voices than expected of a family of 5 and a friend. I followed the sound into the kitchen to be met by four extra pairs of eyes, one pair belonging to Seth, and the sight of Faheema balancing as many spoons on her face as possible, obviously the one to make everyone laugh. I smiled and chuckled at her fondly. I sometimes wondered if she ever came down from her caffeine high, she has to be the biggest coffee addict in the whole of Colorado, and unsurprisingly I spotted a coffee mug sitting faithfully behind her on the counter.

I had been so relaxed that my brain had only just managed to compute that there were four strangers including Seth staring at me. I immediately felt my face burn up and I new that I looked as red as a tomato. I saw Faheema frantically trying to rescue me from their stares by adding another spoon to her face but she had lost their attention and the joke was missed. Luckily my mum sensed my distress and immediately came my rescue.

"Fern, sweetie, I hope you had a great ride today, was Spirit flying again?" she asked. My mum and dad new about my rides with Spirit and how we galloped across flat plains and how it felt like flying. Whenever I was nervous and there were new people around, they would bring it up to help comfort me.

"Yeah, he was awesome and we saw the eagle again. He flew above us for half the ride." I spoke quietly as to not draw too much attention but it seemed that ship had sailed and no one was going to give me the luxury of going unnoticed.

"That's excellent sweetie, I'm so pleased. I would like to introduce you to the Benedict family. I understand that you have already met Seth but as they have just arrived and it's getting late we decided to invite them to dinner." Mum explained. By this point the burning in my cheeks had died down a little so our guests spoke up.

The tall Hispanic man of the family was the first to speak. "Hello Fern, it's lovely to meet you, my name is Zed and this is my wife Sky, our eldest son Seth who you have already met and our youngest son Luka." As he introduced each person they smiled at me, albeit Seth smiled awkwardly due to how our earlier conversation had ended. Sky Benedict was pixie like, with blonde hair and blue eyes; a solid contrast to her dark looking Hispanic husband with dark brown hair and brown eyes. I suddenly understood where Seth's hazel hair came from with their two contrasting hair colours. _What? Of all things I am seeing that's what I pick up on? Get your act together Fern._ Finally Luka had cute little dimples and a carefree face that most children wore at that age with is floppy blonde hair and shiny brown eyes.

Whilst I was appraising this beautiful family my dad coughed under his breath alerting me that they were awaiting my reply.

"Uh um. Yes… hello… I I'm Fern…uh… it's nice to meet you all." I stuttered. My mum smiled at me encouragingly understanding that she had thrown me in at the deep end. Meeting and speaking to four new people all at the same time was a lot harder than just one at a time. However despite my stuttering I was still proud of forming a coherent sentence. At least I was until I heard the amused chuckle of Seth as he found my efforts entertaining. I felt like slapping him for not being more sensitive but I had no need to as his dad sent him a scary glare.

"It's lovely to meet you too Fern" he replied as he returned his attention to me with a kind smile. His wife Sky then got up ad gave me hug, seeming to radiate a form of understanding towards my shyness.

"It's okay to be nervous, I know how you feel, but you don't need to be nervous around us." She whispered softly in my ear. I found this gesture surprisingly comforting and also touching that she went out of her way to make me feel better. I immediately relaxed and whispered a quick "Thank you" in reply. When Sky let go and walked back to her seat I saw Zed give a fond and loving smile and immediately understood that he adored her and was her soulfinder.

You see each savant has a counterpart who is conceived at the same time as him or her. They make each other whole and together they have a gift that they share. This person is known as their soulfinder. However it is incredibly unlikely to meet to your soulfinder, as they could live anywhere in the world and speak completely different languages. Many will either learn to accept it or they will turn to anger and use their powers for the bad. I believe that almost all savants will go through a stage where they feel themselves 'slipping'. So far I've been alright but I've noticed my brothers becoming more tense lately and I have no doubt that seeing Sky and Zed together will knock them back a bit. They sometimes have trouble with mum and dad.

My mum broke me from my reverie by announcing dinner was ready and I suddenly realised I had been standing awkwardly in the middle of the room since I had arrived. Never mind, time to move on anyway. We all took our places at the dinner table and I found myself, like in the barn, directly opposite Seth. He smiled at me when we sat down seeming to have forgotten about his earlier insensitivity towards me. However I've always prided myself to be able to hold a grudge so promptly ignored him and started talking to Faheema who unfortunately, had noticed my rudeness.

"What was that about?" She whispered.

"What was what about?" I retorted deciding to play it dumb.

We both then found ourselves in stare off. Her stare saying 'don't play dumb with me young lady' and mine saying 'we're the same age young lady'. Either way no one won as we both looked away at the same time causing us both to curse at the same time under our breath. Unfortunately my mum heard and gave us a death glare. _Just because there are guests here does not mean your bad language will go ignored. We'll discuss it later_ She sent to me telepathically. Making my mum mad was like making a death wish. She was stubborn and had a temper and if I wasn't careful I would end up cleaning up cow muck for a week.

"So, Seth, your mother and father mentioned that you were joining Fern's school next week and that you'll be in Fern's year. What classes will you be taking?" mum asked. I could already tell where she was going with this and I did not like it.

"Oh really. Well, I'm taking English, Biology, Art and History. I hadn't realised that Fern went to roaring fork high school. I also didn't know that she was the same age as me. " He said whilst giving me a confused look. I couldn't help but roll my eyes everybody assumed I was incredibly young due to my baby face.

"Oh yes, believe it or not she is one of the eldest in her year. I know that she doesn't look it, she has such a cute face." She said putting on a patronising voice.

"MUM! Uncalled for." I groaned, this happens every time somebody questioned my age and it was ten times worse the fact that it was in front of Seth. Faheema guffawed beside me, trying to hide her laughter with a cough. I kicked her in the leg, which made her grunt and almost fall off her chair, all the while maintaining a sweet smile on my face. At which point she turned around and stuck her tongue out. I hadn't realised that everyone had been watching us until laughter started. You know you have a true friend when they can break tension in a room by sticking their tongue out. At first I blushed but then remembered what Sky had said and quietly laughed along with everyone.

After everyone had eaten we all moved back to the living room. Due to it being so dark outside my mum had offered the Benedict's to stay the night as they were new to the area and could get lost in the dark. Our house was really big due to it being in the family since mum was a kid and she grew up in a big family of 9 so there were plenty of rooms. Once everyone had settled into the living room I made a stealthy escape to go and see Spirit before bed. When I went through the barn door I found myself looking into Seth's eyes who had gone the other way round and was staring at me from the door at the other end of the barn.

"Surprised to see you here." I said slightly guarded. I was still kind of pissed at his insensitivity but I found that my annoyance was pretty quickly seeping away. For some reason I couldn't hold a grudge against him.

"Why?" he asked curious at my guardedness. I just shrug my shoulders; _I_ couldn't even explain that. "Look I realise that I've been kind of a Jerk to you. I ignored you and left you in the barn and then I laughed at you when I shouldn't have." I wanted to doubt him and stay annoyed but he seemed so genuinely sorry I gave up on holding it against him.

"It's alright. We all have our reasons. However I can't seem to hold in my curiosity so can I ask you a question." He seemed a little taken aback by this due to my quietness over dinner but I couldn't help it. I just felt comfortable around him.

"Sure ask away."

"Why were you so guarded when I complimented the work your family did?" I began to regret my question feeling he much shut me out again but this time he seemed to be contemplating an answer. We had made our way to Spirits stable and were leaning on his door.

"Well… I guess you could say it's not as amazing as you think. I mean yes we do a lot of good work but I'm like my dad in the sense that I can see the crimes that happen like a movie in front of me and if we're solving a murder I see the whole thing. Sometimes it just feels like I can't take it anymore and I just want to punch someone. I'm really struggling never mind the added pressure of finding my soulfinder on top of that." He had started speaking slowly and gradually picked up pace and I realised that he had been holding this in a while. He looked incredibly surprised that he had blurted all of that out to me. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to load all of that on you." He apologised.

"It's alright. I'm not very good at talking to people… but if there's one thing I do know, it's how to listen." We stood there for a while in comfortable silence and Spirit came over for some attention. "Hey, I'm going to head back now. You coming?"

"No I think I'm going to check up on Athena for a bit." He looked lost in thought and I felt it would be best to leave him to those thoughts.

"Okay well I'll see you in the morning I guess. Athena's a beautiful horse by the way."

"Thanks. Oh and thanks for listening to me. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I turned and made my way back to the house suddenly feeling free as though if I could talk to him I could talk to anyone. This was when I came to the realisation that Seth Benedict was decent guy.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **Hello everyone. I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. I just figured out a really exciting and gasp worthy plot to come up later on in the story so be sure to keep a special eye out for what's to come. heeheehee (mysterious). Any hoo here is chapter 3, I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Disclaimer:**

 **Much to my dismay I don't own any of Joss Stirling's characters or storylines. ENJOY and SMILE.**

The Eagle soared through the clouds allowing his feathers to be ruffled by the air rushing through them. He was a powerful beast and he knew it. Recently his eyes had found themselves zoomed in on a young rider and her horse. He could tell that their bond was strong and they were both bearers of strong hearts. However he felt that this would soon be tested. For some reason he felt himself drawn to the pair, as though if any trouble were to arrive he needed to protect them. So, vigilant he became making sure that the pair stayed close and strong.

I jerked upwards from my restless sleep. Recently I have been having constant dreams of the eagle. I had dreamt him chasing me, not to attack but as if he were trying to warn me of something. At first I ignored the dreams and thought I was just being too fixated on the eagle but I now feel as though they mean more than that. Today is the day I am going to confront him. My plan was to try and communicate with the eagle on my ride and find answers. I started to worry. _What if he doesn't show? What if he doesn't know anything? What if I get answers but something really bad is about to happen?_ There were so many options for failure but at the same time failure was not an option, ironic right? I just need to know what the dreams mean.

I had a shower and composed myself getting rid of all thoughts of the eagle until I was to see him. To entertain myself and take my mind off things I decided it was time to wake Faheema. Now this was going to be fun.

Faheema is, and always has been an extremely heavy sleeper, giving me the perfect opportunity to pull the most childish but awesome pranks. Today's menu consisted of the beautiful prank of putting cream on a sleeping person's hand and tickling their nose. Ha Classic. I quickly rushed down stairs to the kitchen to prepare my supplies.

"Morning sweetheart, How was your sleep?" mum asked. Everyone was awake and dressed like me. I seriously cannot exaggerate enough how heavy a sleeper Faheema is.

"Morning mum, it was fine. I can't really talk right now I have to concentrate." I replied trying my best not to look at Seth, who clearly did not understand that bed head was supposed to look stupid, not cool. At this point our guests were very confused by my strange actions. However, my brothers caught on pretty fast.

"Trying to wake Faheema right? What prank are you going to use this time?" asked Charlie with a mischievous glint in his eyes. When we were younger Glen had gained my trust by pulling endless pranks on Charlie and in return Charlie had gained my trust by doing the same to Glen. I learnt my pranking ways from them. All together we made a torturous gang of pranksters.

"I was thinking your classic cream in the face kind of prank. What do you say, want to watch?" I asked returning the smirks that plastered my brother's faces.

"Hell yeah! Can I film it?" Charlie could never contain his excitement when it came to pranks and I have to say it was kind of contagious.

I cracked a grin "Only if you want Faheema to skin you alive. Come on lets go."

All three of us ran up the stairs. We slowly made our way into the bedroom and crept over to Faheema who was mumbling something about apples in her sleep. She sure had some random dreams. I took the cream from my belt and squeezed it onto the palm of her hand. Charlie was sticking the camera right in her face to make sure he captured the moment. I then grabbed my pen that had a fluffy end and tickled her face with it. There was no response. Seriously what was she dreaming about? In the end I just started poking her in the face multiple times and finally… she smacked herself in the face with a palm full of cream.

"What the…? FERN! WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?" She screamed.

At this we all picked up and ran downstairs. I decided it would be faster to slide down the banister and got myself a head start away from her. I ran into the kitchen and stood behind Luka at the opposite end of the table to Faheema who stood behind Seth. Both brothers were shocked at what they were witnessing. Faheema was now trying to stifle her laughing. I was lucky to have a friend with a good sense of humour in the morning.

"Come on! You've got to let me have some pay back." She reasoned. I debated in my mind what I should do as I had the advantage of being right by the back door until I decided that it was only fair that she had some revenge.

"Okay fine", I sighed giving in and preparing myself for what was to come. Faheema put a load of whipped cream in her hand and slowly made her way over to me savouring her moment of revenge. Then when I least expected it she slapped me in the face with the cream. Charlie and Glen were killing each other laughing and couldn't seem to stop. Faheema and I shared a knowing look and put cream on our hands, Faheema went to Glen and I went to Charlie and we smeared cream all over their unsuspecting faces. At this, the entire room burst into laughter, our guests finally getting the weirdness of this household. God I love my family.

Once Faheema, Glen, Charlie and I had cleaned our faces we went and ate breakfast like normal people.

However, the shock of the morning for me came when my mother told me what I was to spend my day doing.

"Fern would you be ever so kind and take Seth out for a ride and show him the area?" Mum asked just as I was finishing breakfast. I looked at mum wide eyed and almost dropped my mouth open. "Don't give me that look. Seth needs to know the area so that he can go on rides alone and not get lost. Safety in numbers is the most important thing when it comes to learning a new area, you know that." She stated matter-of-factly. Of course I know that but that doesn't mean that I have to like it.

"But mum I was going to find the eagle today." I begged. However my mum has always been stubborn.

"Well I'm sure that can wait and anyway maybe you'll see him while you show Seth around." She reasoned.

"Okay fine." I gave in; there really was no point in annoying my mum.

"Thank you for giving up your time to show me around. I'll go get Athena ready to go." Seth spoke up awkwardly. This startled me as he hadn't said anything all morning apart from laughing and he seemed so distant last night.

"Don't mention it it's fine. I'll meet you out there." With that he left to go outside. However, almost immediately he returned.

"Hey Fern? Spirit is wandering around the yard chasing chickens. How did he get out?" He seemed slightly panicked by the sight of my horse showing great interest in the chickens.

"Don't worry about it. He knows how to unlock his door. I taught him that on purpose so that he has more freedom. He never does anything stupid and he never runs away, he's happy here." I explained easily. Seth stared at me with his open mouth almost hitting the floor. "What? I trained him. He's family. You wouldn't lock your little brother in a box all night would you?"

"No I… I guess not." So again Seth left the kitchen but this time with an amused yet dumbfounded expression dominating his face.

Ten minutes later I went to the barn with Faheema by my side and Spirit fast on my heels. I had told him about our activity for the day and he seemed excited about putting me in a social situation which didn't involve just Faheema. I would of loved to have Faheema there for moral support on the ride but to my dismay she doesn't ride. She shares an understanding with me about the beauty of horses but she always flat out refused to ride. So she had come along to give a pep talk before I went on this three-hour ride with a boy I had only just met.

"Remember, don't feel you have to provide the conversation all the time he can talk to, so don't babble. Oh and an awkward silence is only awkward because you believe it to be, so just think about things that make you happy and then the silence will be comfortable. Oh my goodness! You're finally becoming social. I am so proud of you." Just then Faheema's mum turned into the driveway and beeped her horn. Faheema gave me one last encouraging hug then wished me good luck and ran to her car. Suddenly I was a nervous wreck. Spirit sensed my uneasiness and gave me a reassuring nudge and I realised that I still had one friend looking out for me. So I took a deep breath and entered the barn.

Seth had just finished tacking up Athena and was pretty much ready to go so I mustered whatever courage I had and said what I needed to say. Well I was about to when Seth spoke first.

"Hey Fern? I've noticed your kind of shy and my mum sees emotion so she confirmed that to me. So I guess I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to be nervous or shy around me. I won't judge you or anything especially after you listened to me ranting last night and didn't judge. I happen to think your kind of cool so don't worry about awkward silences or anything like that. It's all fine with me okay?" He finished his speech with a sigh of relief to say it out loud. I even thought I had seen him blush slightly when he called me cool, I know _I_ did, but it had been so fast I had probably imagined it. It felt so nice though to have someone reassure me like that who wasn't Faheema. It was refreshing not to have someone just stare at me, awkwardly waiting for me to speak.

"Thank you. You have no idea how nice it is to hear that. Well I was thinking I would take you through the woods into the mountains and then back along the flat plains. Does that sound alright?" I asked. I suddenly had a huge urge to not mess this up. I wanted this ride to go well and for Seth to become my friend. So I decided to try my best to make this work.

"Sounds good to me. I'm ready to go once you've got Spirit ready." He seemed relieved a second time round that I didn't find him weird from his speech.

"I am ready. I ride Spirit bareback without a bridle or saddle." Yet again his jaw hit the ground. I understood as not many people took the method of riding this way and sometimes I did ride Spirit with a bridle and saddle but both of us preferred to go without. So without waiting around for an astonished reply from Seth, I took a running jump and swung myself onto Spirit's back with ease. Seth seemed to stare for a while, which made me a little nervous, before he regained his composure and mounted his horse ready for the long trek.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

 **Hello everyone! Sorry it's taken so long to upload. I hope you are all happy and that you enjoyed the last chapter as much as I did writing it. Anyway here goes the next chapter.**

 **Disclaimer:**

 **As much as I would love to own Joss Stirling's characters and storylines I don't. So sad. *sigh ***

 **Anyhoo ENJOY and SMILE.**

I breathed a small sigh of relief. So far there had been no awkward silences. We had ridden deep into the forest and spoken for small periods of time, but most of the time Seth seemed to be admiring the landscape, which out here is truly stunning. Faheema had been right about awkward silences being in your head, all I had to do was let my mind wander into comfortable thoughts and the silence would become comfortable too. Seth broke into my reverie by making the statement I had been dreading.

"I'm sorry if you find this annoying, but you don't look very much like your parents." He said with a slight nervous edge. I hesitated, thinking about whether or not to tell the truth. Sometimes the truth could be a little uncomfortable for people. Never the less I knew that telling a lie wouldn't get me anywhere, so I went with the truth.

"It's because I'm adopted. My mum had my brothers and then got caught in a major car accident. She went into surgery and it left her unable to have any more children." I spoke fast and quietly. I always found this area of life sensitive. "However, mum had always wanted to have a daughter so they spoke to savant adoption agencies and found me." I breathed a heavy sigh. From past experience most people had shut up and left me alone after this not wanting to make things more uncomfortable but Seth hadn't received that memo.

"What age were you adopted at?" he asked genuinely curious. I would of ignored most people who carried on questioning me, as most of the time they were looking for gossip, but he seemed so genuinely interested I felt I needed to answer him.

"When I was 8 years old." I could see and feel the day I was adopted as though it was yesterday.

 _This morning the foster lady had told all the girls that a man and lady were coming to see us. She said that one of us would have them as a new mummy and daddy. All the big girls had put on make up and were sitting reading magazines. One big girl called June had put me in a pink dress and had done my hair in pigtails. I was sitting drawing in the corner of the playroom. A small lady with a slight figure and soft brown hair came in. I stared at her in interest. She didn't seem like all the other mummies and daddies that had come before. She seemed comforting and I continued to stare at her until she stared at me in equal interest. She came and sat opposite me at my drawing table._

" _Hello there. My names Mary what's yours?" she asked. She had a soft voice that reminded me of music and a comforting lullaby. I didn't reply. I couldn't do it._

 _Instead I drew a picture of a tree and showed it to her. June had once told me that my name, Fern, was also the name of a tree. Mary looked at it confused. I hadn't realised that the foster lady was nearby but she spoke for me._

" _Her name is Fern. She's very shy and doesn't speak. She hasn't said a word since she got here 2 months ago. Maybe there's a more suitable child for you." She said looking around. The foster lady didn't like me very much._

" _No no. I am quite happy here. I think I'm going to spend a little more time with Fern thank you." Mary replied. This had shocked me as everyone else had normally disregarded me and moved on. I stared at Mary with more interest. She stayed with me for a while and told me about her home. She had a ranch with lots of cows and horses and had two sons called Glen and Charlie. I had never seen a ranch before but when she described it, it sounded so beautiful I started to dream about myself being there._

 _Mary looked at me intently for a minute and then asked "Do you like animals Fern?" a kind smile appearing on her face. I grabbed my paper and crayons. The man that came with Mary came and sat with us. He also seemed really comforting to be around. I drew a large heart that took up almost the entire page and drew all of the animals I had ever seen inside it and showed it to them. Mary laughed softly._

" _That's a beautiful drawing. I'll take that as a yes then?" I nodded my head frantically and both the man and Mary laughed kindly together. They both looked at each other and I knew they were talking telepathically to one another. Then the man turned to look at me and smiled. He had a soft smile that made me feel safe._

" _Hello Fern my name is John. I'm Mary's husband. Would you like to come and live with us on the ranch?" he seemed nervous and excited at the same time. I looked around the playroom at all the children surrounding me. Then I came back to look at Mary and John. They both made me feel safe and warm. I straightened my back and looked at them both and gathered my courage._

" _Yes please. If that's okay." I said softly and quietly so that only they heard. Mary looked almost close to tears. I suddenly thought I had upset them until Mary came round the table and took my hand in hers._

" _Of course it's okay. We would love to have you. Come on lets go to the reception desk." She gave me a small reassuring hug and led me to the foster lady. "We would like to adopt Fern." The foster lady seemed in shock for a moment._

" _Are you sure? She doesn't talk at all maybe you should do a trial week."_

" _Oh no she can talk and even if she didn't that wouldn't matter to us. We Love this child just the way she is. A trial week won't be necessary. We will sign the papers now." Mary said with a determined voice. John had his hand around Mary's waist for support._

 _The next thing I knew Mary and June were in my bedroom helping me pack my bags. June started crying. For the two months I had been in the foster home, June had been my friend and looked after me even though I didn't talk. I was going to miss her. She was crying and folding my clothes so I crawled across my bed and hugged her around the waist. I took a folded piece of paper out of my pocket and gave it to her. When she opened it there was a little drawing of her holding hands with me. She gasped slightly and gave me a hug back._

 _Once I had packed and said goodbye to June I got in the car and waved as we drove away. That was the last time I ever saw June._

I came out of my flashback with a small tear in my eye. It was often that I thought of June and wished that I could see her one more time. We had tried to get in contact with her a couple of weeks after my adoption, only to discover that she had also been adopted and had moved to England with the new family. Don't get me wrong, I was so happy she was out of that foster home and with a loving family, but I still found myself missing the girl who had taken such good care of me for so long.

"Fern? Are you okay?" Seth asked with obvious concern.

"Yes I'm fine thank you." I dismissed quickly. It was then that we entered the flat plains. I took a deep breath feeling the wind surround me, and the sense of freedom wash over me. I heard the loud familiar call of the Eagle and snapped my head up to the sky. "Look Spirit. The Eagle, come on boy we've got to keep up. I need to speak with him." Spirit knew exactly what I meant and launched into a flat gallop. I felt is muscles work as he stretched his legs out with long powerful strides eating up the ground with his hooves. I faintly heard the sound of Athena racing after us with Seth. Spirit ran so that we were running underneath the Eagle as it flew. I let go of Spirits mane with one hand and reached it up towards the Eagle and formed a link with the Eagles mind. It was surprisingly easy to do so, which meant that the Eagle also wished to talk to me. So, I sent him my message through our mind link. _I have been having dreams of you trying to warn me of something. What do they mean? Is something going to happen?_ Seconds later, I felt the Eagles presence in my mind. His voice was a gentle whisper. Slow and steady.

 _Something is coming. You must stay close to those you love and care about. I cannot tell what it is but I can sense something dangerous soon to take place._

 _Why? Have I done something to anger someone?_ I couldn't think of anyone who would want to present danger to my family.

 _No. You have not caused anything. Someone is in search of you for something they couldn't have the first time. I will keep watch over you and do my best to protect you but you must be cautious in your actions to keep yourself safe._

With that the Eagle flew higher into the sky and broke the mind link we had created. Spirit slowed down to walk and Athena behind us did the same with Seth. They came alongside us, Seth looking out of breath and slightly shocked.

"What the hell was that? I mean it was fun but I wasn't really expecting to go quite that fast."

"I'm sorry" I blushed. "I just needed to speak with the Eagle."

"Speak with it? Wait a minute… is that your gift?" He asked in realisation.

"Yeah and I can tell how an animal is feeling as well." I blushed further. I'm pretty sure that I was the colour of a beetroot.

"Wow. That's such a cool gift." He said astounded at my ability. "Mind you, that kind of makes sense considering you're so good with animals." I didn't think it was possible but he managed to make me blush even more.

"Thanks. What's your gift?" I said quietly, eager to change the subject away from me.

"I'm a lot like my dad in the way that I can see the future, but I only see it in my dreams. The visions never happen when I am awake, but it still allows me to see what happens when we're solving a case, like my dad." He said with pride.

"You want to be like him." I said more as a statement rather than a question.

"Yeah, my dad does a lot of good work and leads a good life. I look up to him you know? Although like I said yesterday, it does get hard especially when you see all the crimes." He stopped then with a haunted expression.

"It's okay. You don't have to talk about it. You can if you want but you don't have to. This ride is supposed to be relaxing not stressful. We can go for another run if you want." I said, hoping to reassure him.

"Yes please. That would be perfect."

So that's how the rest of our ride went. We switched between racing and a comfortable silence at a fast walk. When we got back to the ranch we groomed our horses and put them out to graze. After this, all of the Benedict's went home to settle into there knew house. Seth said that he would look out for Faheema and I at school. Even though my brain was still thinking over what the Eagle had said, I couldn't help but feel cheerful and giddy about having made a friend in Seth and about seeing him again.

Okay I admit it I may have a mini crush but I wasn't going to obsess over him. Currently I was just glad to have him as a friend.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **Hey everyone. This chapter is a little bit longer than the others. I got a bot carried away. I hope you guys are having a brilliant start to the week and enjoy this new chapter.**

 **Disclaimer:**

 **I don't own any of Joss Stirling's characters and story lines.**

 **ENJOY and SMILE.**

Monday. A word that all teenagers dread to hear. It provokes images of work and tests and teachers along with classmates judging you for what you know, wear and like. For most people the knowledge of friends joking around to make things fun can often soften the blow of a Monday, but for people who are shy and don't have a single lesson with their one best friend, only a fountain of chocolate could soften that blow and as far as I know, the school doesn't permit chocolate fountains.

With the knowledge of the day ahead in the forefront of my mind, I got ready for school. I got dressed into my regular skinny jeans and comfy hoody. I went down for breakfast and got into Charlie's truck with Glen. Charlie works at the sports centre in town but is hoping to one day run the ranch like our dad. Glen is in the year above me in his senior year and aspires to be an artist. I on the other hand am in my junior year and aspire to be a Veterinarian. I have to say my gift would definitely come in handy for that occupation. My grandpa had taught us all to always pursue our dreams and to never give up on them no matter what. So here I was at Roaring Fork High School studying Biology, Chemistry, Art and English Literature to get me into Veterinary school.

"Alright guys have a good day and Glen please don't get in trouble again or mum will unleash her wrath and Fern and I will also end up cleaning up cow muck, and I will kill you." Charlie said in an exasperated tone.

"Alright brother, don't sweat it. Besides Mrs Jones was totally exaggerating last time, it was only two spit balls." Glen reasoned.

"Yeah right. More like fifteen." I said as I pushed passed him out of the truck. Charlie chuckled to himself.

"Whatever I'll see you later. Oh and Fern don't be afraid to speak to someone in your class today, as Faheema isn't in any of your classes this year you should try and branch out a little. You're a lot cooler than you think." Charlie spoke more quietly for me to hear instead of Glen.

"Thanks Charlie. I'll see you at home." So with that, I shut the truck door and turned to face my school and what was to come.

I was supposed to be meeting Faheema by my locker so made my way through the crowded halls making sure to be invisible to all the other students, which wasn't that hard considering half of our year didn't even know I existed. It is sad but true. I was coming up to my locker when a guy pushed into me from behind causing me to fall over and drop my books. The guy had continued to walk on to his class. I bent to pick up my books rather than complain. I didn't want to gain any attention by starting conflict with the guy. Then I heard a familiar deep voice.

"Fern! Are you okay? Hey let me help you" I looked up to find myself staring into Seth's deep blue eyes. He bent down and started helping me collect my books. "I saw that guy. What a douche, he should have at least stopped to apologise."

All I could do was blush at the fact that he had seen me fall over. "It's okay. He just didn't see me is all" I reasoned not wanting any conflict.

"Well he should have seen you. I see you." At that I swung my head up and stared at him in interest. He blushed and stood up looking a little flustered. He offered me his hand so I could stand up and then he held on for a little bit longer. The butterflies in my stomach were doing front flips. "I'm sorry I don't mean to… well I'm glad your okay. I guess I'll see you around" and with that he let go of my hand and walked away still looking a little flustered. I was pretty sure I was still blushing. Then right on cue.

"Seth and Fern sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. God it's so adorable." She sang.

"Good morning to you too Faheema" I said "and just for the record it's not what you think, he's become my friend since the ride yesterday. So we now officially have a new member to our group."

"Oh my goodness. I have been waiting for the day you get a crush for so long." She squealed putting extra emphasis on the 'so'.

"Did you not hear anything that I just said?"

"Oh you mean all that crap about him just being your friend. Yeah you see Fern, I've known you for nine years and your acting different with Seth. Admit it, it might not be much but you have a mini crush on Seth Benedict." Faheema was right I really had been acting differently so I decided to tell her.

"Okay… fine. I may have… a tini tiny… crush." I whispered hoping only she would hear. She started to squeal so I slapped my hand over her mouth. "You cannot tell anyone. You have to swear, and it's only small it's never going to be obsessive okay? Right now I'm just happy that we're friends. So you have to promise me you won't try anything weird to put us in an awkward situation." I pleaded "okay?" She removed my hand from her mouth.

"Okay okay sheesh paranoid much? I won't do anything weird. I'm your best friend remember I want this to work just as much as you do. Besides for what it's worth I think he feels the same way as you. You should have seen the blushing in his cheeks when he held your hand. Oh my god this is awesome." I breathed a sigh of relief and then felt my face heat up at what she said. She looked at me and burst out laughing. "Come on Debby downer turn that frown upside down, and cool your face off you look a tomato. Lets go to registration. The only class that we have together this year." So off we went. Let Monday commence.

After registration I went to my Biology class. I went straight to the desk at the back in the corner by the window. This way there were less chances of the teacher picking on me. Currently the lab department for science was being rebuilt so we had to use the regular classrooms. I was quite glad for this as it meant that we didn't have to have lab partners for a while. At this moment Seth walked in accompanied by our biology teacher, who had a top hat in her hand.

"Good morning class. My name is Mrs Leach and I will be your biology teacher for this year. We also have a new classmate." She turned her attention to Seth and waved her hand at him to introduce himself. He hesitated for a moment and then caught eyes with me.

"Hello everyone. My name is Seth Benedict and I have lived in England for the past 2 years, until my parents decided to move back to Colorado near the rest of our family." He sped through it, all the while keeping eye contact with me.

"Excellent. Well Mr Benedict welcome to Roaring Fork High school and biology class. If you could stay standing for a minute that would be lovely. So class as you all know when we move into the new lab department you will get lab partners. So I thought it would be best if, for the next few weeks you sat with your lab partner and got used to working with them." I groaned inwardly, so much for my plan of being partner free for the time being. "I will pull two names out of this hat at a time and those people will be partners and I would like you to move to sit next to each other. Here are the first two names. Yasmin Botting and Tom Nolan. Here are the next two names. Seth Benedict…" at this all of the other girls in the room straightened their backs. Obviously his looks had not gone unnoticed by the female population of the school. "… And Fern Fielding" I looked up startled; I hadn't been expecting that. "Perfect, there's a free seat next to Fern already. Seth if you could please join your lab partner." Seth grinned and made his way over to his seat. I gave him a small smile but I didn't really know what to do or say.

"Hey lab partner." He said as he sat next to me. "Fancy seeing you here. I didn't know you were doing Biology. What other classes are you doing?"

"Um… I'm also doing Chemistry, Art and English Literature." I spoke a little flustered at the results of the hat pickings.

"No way! I'm doing English and Art as well. I hope we're in the same class together. It's kind of nice having a familiar face around. I got lost about three times on the way to registration." He seemed to be babbling a little but I didn't mind.

"Well… if you want Faheema and I can give you a tour around the school at lunch?" I asked.

"Really? That would be awesome thank you." He said relieved that he'd finally know his way around school. Then our teacher finished sorting out lab partners and grabbed everyone's attention. Seth was incredibly helpful in the lesson if I ever got stuck because normally I was too shy to ask for help but if he saw I was struggling he would help instead of letting me suffer in silence.

At the end of the lesson I decided I should help him out in return.

"What lesson do you have next? We have break now so I can show to your next class if you want." I asked.

"Yes please. I have Art next and I kind of don't want to get lost again."

"Oh! I have Art next as well. In that case could we go to my locker first? I need to get my sketchbook out." I was hoping he would say yes. I never really liked going to my locker alone, as normally there was a couple making out in front of it. Having someone there like Faheema generally made it easier to get rid of them. As Faheema was on the other side of the school I decided Seth would be a good replacement. Not that I had much choice of a replacement.

"Awesome sounds good to me." So we headed off to my locker. Yet again I was astonished at how easy it was to talk to Seth he asked me a lot about my Art and was genuinely interested in my reply. When I asked him about his artwork he sounded so passionate I couldn't help but be pulled into his imagination and his artistic perspective, it was fascinating.

Unfortunately though our art teacher had a thing for seating charts and sat us at opposite ends of the room with me between two guys who were using Art as a blow off class. However this didn't stop Seth from pulling funny faces at me from across the room. I couldn't help but smile and laugh a little at his antics. Somehow Seth was completing Faheema's job of softening the blow of Mondays and it made me think that this year wouldn't be so bad after all. Turns out I have two human friends. Who knew right?

Lunch came around pretty quickly. I had just sat down with Faheema at our regular lunch table when Seth walked into the cafeteria. He was followed by a couple of guys from his registration class. They were joking around and laughing and I was glad that he had made friends on the first day. Faheema waved him over and he grinned and said goodbye to his friends and started to make his way over. That's when Jessica Whiting made an appearance. She grabbed Seth's arm in a flirtatious way and started giggling about something to him. My face fell. Jessica Whiting had a way with guys and normally once she started talking to them they were trapped and caught in the world of Jessica. This is why it was extra surprising to see Seth brush her off politely and carry on making his way towards us. However this was not as great as it sounded as Jessica turned her icy glare on Faheema and I.

"Uh oh it looks like the Wicked Witch of the West has it in for us." Faheema whispered "whatever happens do not engage her in conversation. If she talks to you just walk away." I turned my head to Faheema and nodded with an amused smile forming on my face.

"What are you smiling about?" Seth said as he arrived at our table trying to supress his own smile.

"Oh just the fact that Jessica is now pissed at us because you blew her off." Faheema stated bluntly.

"Who?" bless him he looked genuinely confused.

"The girl you just talked to. It's not very often that a guy turns her down and she seems to think it's our fault." I explained. He snickered a little.

"Well that's her problem. I'm sure she'll get over it." I smiled at this. It was refreshing to see a guy who wasn't so wound up in the looks of a girl to forget the rest of the world. "So are you guys still up for showing me around cause I may or may not have gotten lost again on the way to registration." Faheema and I laughed.

"Sure we'll show you around after food." Faheema replied. So we ate our lunch in a comfortable silence. That was until the scraping of a chair loudly made it's way towards our table. It turns out Jessica wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Hey guys." She said slowly "you don't mind if I join you for a minute do you?" she seemed to direct the question at me. I knew she had done that on purpose. All I could do was open my mouth to talk but no sound came out except for a stutter. "I'm sorry but I didn't quite catch that. Was that a yes? Awww thank you that's so sweet." She said pushing my chair further away from Seth and scooting in next to him.

"Excuse me, but Fern was sitting there and that's no way to treat someone." Seth spoke up for me. I couldn't believe he'd spoken up for me.

"Oh don't worry. I'm sure Ferny doesn't mind." The pet name made me want to vomit.

"Her name is Fern and I'm pretty sure she does mind." I looked at Seth and mouthed a 'thank you' towards him. He gave a small smile in reply.

"Oh don't worry about that. I just came over to ask if you wanted a tour around the school. As student council president I have the most authority to be able to give you a tour." This girl just didn't know how to give up.

"Thank you very much for the offer but Faheema and Fern have already offered and I have said yes." He kept a stoic expression and didn't look her in the eyes.

"Well, now they don't have to. They can have a relaxing lunch, and besides you don't want to be seen with these losers. Trust me." Faheema guffawed and I knew that she was seconds away from lunging across the table at Jessica. So I gently placed my hand on her arm to remind her that we were in school.

"Hey! Those are my friends you're talking about. How dare you speak about them like that. Now I suggest you get up and leave us alone." Seth had now directed his eyes at Jessica and they had darkened a little in annoyance. For a moment Jessica looked astonished at his reply but she quickly masked it with a glare full of venom.

"Whatever. Looks like I had you all wrong. Your just as much of a loser as them." And with that, she stood up grabbed her chair and marched away.

"Wow what a nasty piece of work. Do you guys always let her speak to you like that?" Faheema replied for us both.

"Nope. Normally she doesn't speak to us at all." She had returned to her easy-going piece of mind now that the threat had gone. "Oh and Fern, we really have to work on your trash talk." I couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Come on. Lets go give Seth his tour." I said, still trying to supress my giggles.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 **Hey everyone. I hope you all are well and haven't given up on my fanfic just yet. I'm really sorry I haven't updated in so long, I went through a tough time recently and then I was doing loads of work experience. Anyway, I am back and ready to write again. I hope you don't mind but I got the sudden feeling to do a chapter from Seth's perspective. If you like it please review and tell me if you would like me to do more chapters from other characters perspective. I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Disclaimer:**

 **It breaks my heart but I don't own any of Joss Stirling's characters or storylines. ENJOY and SMILE.**

Seth's POV

Things have somehow been different since I arrived at Glenwood Springs. Why? I think I have some understanding of why but I'm too much of a chicken to admit it. Before, when we lived in England I had been out of character. All I ever did was get in trouble at school and get in fights. My mum and dad were worried sick. I had heard stories about my dad, from my uncles, when he started "slipping", as they called it. My uncles said that when he met my mum he softened up within a matter of days. I doubted that that would happen for me anytime soon. I mean, I tried to think on the positive side but I just couldn't stop feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. The visions of crimes were getting worse but I couldn't stop helping my dad and I didn't want to. I felt that if I did I would let my dad down and that was not an option for me. However since we had arrived in Colorado I had been pretty chilled out and relaxed. My mum couldn't believe the change. She was so suspicious that she asked me if I had found my soulfinder.

I walked into Biology class just as the bell went. It was my second day at Roaring Fork high school and I had just spent my lunch in the Art room finishing off a painting in my sketchbook. I looked to the corner at the back by the window and there sat the object of my painting. Mahogany waves falling over and past her shoulders. Her deep green eyes met mine for a second before quickly looking away. She was beautiful. Fern. She had become my friend in the past few days and at first I had been overjoyed but now all I felt, was a little bit unsatisfied. What was going on with me? I only met the girl four days ago and now I want her to be my girlfriend? I am messed up. When she had offered to give me a tour of the school yesterday I had almost jumped out of my chair and done a victory dance. I've got to get a grip and fast before I seriously embarrass myself.

As I slowly made my way over to her, the guy sitting in the seat in front of Fern turned back and grabbed the pen from her desk just as she was about to take it. She looked like she was about to tap him on the shoulder to ask for it back. I quietly cheered her on in my mind, but she seemed to choose against her idea and turned to search in her bag for another pen. It was time to take action. For some reason the thought of someone taking advantage of Fern's shyness, even in only a small way, seriously got to me. I marched up to the guy and cleared my throat to grab his attention.

"What?" he grunted. Obviously he wasn't much of a talker.

"That's not your pen. Give it back to Fern." I ordered.

"Look man, it's just a pen I'm pretty sure she has another one." He turned and smirked at Fern, openly looking at her chest. I seriously wanted to punch this guy but I didn't want to embarrass Fern in school so I grabbed his hand wrenched the pen out of his grip and spun him around to face the board and sat down in my chair. The guy looked like he was about to get up and start a confrontation when the teacher walked in.

"Mr Carter take a seat, we are starting class." Mrs Leach ordered. Carter stuttered for a second and then resentfully sat back down.

"Um thank you. You didn't have to do that, I had another pen but thank you." Fern said in her soft gentle voice.

"It's alright. People shouldn't take advantage of you like that." I spoke calmly to her but inside I was fuming with anger about the way that Carter had looked at Fern. Fern had seemed to sense my frustration. She hesitated for a minute and then spoke up.

"Are you mad at me? My brothers get mad sometimes. They lecture me about standing up for myself more and "not letting the bastards get me down." You know?" She laughed a little nervously at that last bit.

"No I'm not mad at you, don't worry. I'm just mad at that guy for being such an ass." I vented a little. I stopped myself from saying anything else otherwise I knew I would work myself into a rage and start using the guy as a punch bag. Wow! When did I become so protective of Fern? I mean it really was just a pen. Well… this was new. Although, I have to admit, I kind of like it. It makes me feel a little bit like a guardian or bodyguard or something. Geez I need to tone down my imagination. I heard small laughter from beside me. It was adorable. I turned to look at Fern to see that she had her hand over her moth to muffle her laughter. I gave her a questioning look.

"Sorry. It's just you went from looking really pensive and slightly angry to then really goofy." She explained. I suddenly realised what she was talking about. My imagination running away had caused me to sit there with my mouth open and one eyebrow raised. I started to laugh as well. I must have looked so stupid.

"Silence at the back of the classroom please!" At this both Fern and I stifled our laughing and looked down at our textbooks to hide our grinning.

Biology went by really fast and it was time for English. Whilst wishing Fern was in my English class I was still happy that her next class was in the same direction as mine.

"So… are you taking Athena for a ride this afternoon?" said the twinkling voice next to me. I turned my head towards her in shock. Was she asking me out? "I mean, I was just thinking there are a couple of areas I didn't show you the other day and there really cool so, I figured if you ever felt stressed you could ride there alone or with someone or whatever. You don't have to if you don't want to I just thought…"she trailed off realising she had been babbling. Her cheeks had tinged red ever so slightly and I couldn't stop looking at her. "You know what, it was a stupid idea, I'm gonna go." This slapped me out of my daze.

"Nonono wait! I'd love to go… you know… with you" _nice one Seth your stuttering like an idiot._ I pushed back that evil inner voice inside me.

"Really you would?" she asked nervously and I nodded a little to confirm. She smiled "Okay. Charlie is picking Glen and I up after school if you want a ride to the ranch. We meet at the lamppost in the corner by the main entrance after school."

"Alright, I'll be there." I nodded and smiled. Suddenly Fern stopped walking and I carried on just smiling to myself.

"Uh Seth!" she called out to me. I swivelled to face her. "Your class is here" she said looking a little amused with her eyebrows slightly raised. I stuttered for a minute trying to compose myself.

"Oh… uh right… yeah sorry… um… I'll see you after school." I said quickly and rushed into my class.

Apart from embarrassing myself with where my class was, I couldn't stop feeling extremely happy. I knew that this afternoon wasn't a date. Fern was too shy to ever straight up ask someone out. However it did mean that she trusted me as a friend, now all I had to do was make sure I didn't get put in the friend zone. I still wasn't sure what I was doing, but I did know that Fern was changing me for the better in some way. I suddenly came to the realisation that I hadn't had as many visions and nightmares of crime since I met Fern. Flashbacks of my uncles started zooming through my head of them telling me what my dad was like with my mum. Hang on, what if Fern is…

My Soulfinder.

The realisation hit me like a tonne of bricks my head started rushing through thousands of scenario's of us talking telepathically and discovering she was my soulfinder and then I mentally slapped myself.

 _Don't get ahead of yourself Seth. She might not be your soulfinder and then what? You'll be violent again._

For once the voice of reason in my head took precedence over all of my other feelings. I needed to be ultra certain about this otherwise, I could go crashing back to the way I was in England within a matter of seconds and I didn't want to be like that anymore.

When English finished I decided to ring my dad before meeting up with Fern and her brothers. He answered after one ring.

"Hey son what's up?" he said without hesitation.

"Let me guess you saw me ringing?"

"Yep, I saw it a couple minutes ago, not sure why though so go ahead."

"I was just wondering if you knew when Fern was born?" I knew that dad would know what I was up to. However he wasn't the kind of dad who would pry so he didn't say anything.

"Hold on, let me look on the Net." The line went silent for a minute as my dad looked and I couldn't stop fidgeting in anticipation. "Wow, Seth, her birthday certificate says September the 15th, one day before yours. Seth you know what this means right?"

"That she could be my soulfinder? Yeah I know." I couldn't stop smiling. "Hey dad could you do me a favour? Please don't tell mum yet we don't know for sure if she is my soulfinder but you'll probably know by tonight."

"Of course son. Good luck I hope it's her. Oh and Seth even if it isn't her, just know, we're here for you. You don't have to face all of this on your own okay?"

"Okay dad. Thanks." With that I hung up and raced to the entrance to meet Fern, I could barely contain my excitement. I was going to speak to her telepathically today, no matter what.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 **Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't updated, I was away in Norfolk with no Internet. However this does mean that I have written quite a lot of chapters. I'm not going to upload them all at once but I will upload more quickly. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and nagged me to keep writing it really does help me, so thank you. Also I realised that I have used a couple of words that people who spend time with horses will know but others might not.**

 **Tack= Bridle and saddle which is the headset and seat that horses wear.**

 **Bit= this is what goes inside the horses mouth and is attached to the bridle. (You can buy bridles without bits but they are rarely used).**

 **Eventing= this is a competition that involves Dressage, show jumping and cross-country.**

 **Bareback= Riding without a bridle or saddle.**

 **Any hoo I hope you enjoy this new chapter and that you have all had a fantastic summer.**

 **Disclaimer**

 **I don't own any of Joss Stirling's fantastically written storylines and characters. ENJOY AND SMILE!**

I ran through the entrance gates and spotted Fern leaning against the lamppost with one earphone in. She looked so cool and relaxed. _Okay Seth just play it cool. Try and walk over real smooth._ I took a deep breath and made my way toward her. I was hoping she would notice me like in the movies but she seemed too engrossed in her music to see. I decided to go for the less dorky approach.

"Hey lab partner. What you listening to? You looked absorbed into it." I said hoping I sounded cool rather than awkward.

"Oh God!" She jumped away from the lamppost hand on her heart in fright.

"I'm so sorry. Did I scare you? I didn't mean to scare you. I swear all ever seem to do is scare you." I frantically grabbed her arms in some attempt to calm her down. When she realised it was just me I let go with some reluctance.

"No it's alright. I'm so sorry for jumping. I really need to be more alert. My friend Eve moved to London a couple of months ago to study music and she's put up some recordings on Facebook. She's an awesome guitarist. Want to listen?"

"Sure sounds awesome" I bent down a little so that I could get the other earphone in my ear. Fern was considerably shorter than me but I didn't care, I liked her height. The music was amazing and Fern's friend was incredibly talented, but I could only focus on that for a couple of seconds. I suddenly became incredibly aware of the small distance between Fern and I. The length of the earphones meant that we had to stand close together and all I could focus on was the warmth and comfort radiating off of her, her gentle breathing and the my heart beating frantically. I thought I was imagining it but I felt as though when I got closer, her breathing hitched. Then the music stopped and Fern's brother Glen arrived. Fern gave me a nervous smile and we both removed our headphones.

"Hey is that Eve? Mind if I listen?" He said as he caught a glimpse of what was on the phone.

"Sure go for it. She's great isn't she?" she said directing her question to me.

"Who? Oh you mean your friend." _Nice one Seth._ I couldn't help it. The only thing I had focused on in the song was Fern. "Yeah she's amazing. How long has she played guitar for?" I asked for small talk. I didn't want to seem as though I wasn't interested because I was interested. Her friend really was talented I had just been easily distracted.

"I think she's played since she could hold a baby guitar. She was nice to everybody and she would hang out with everyone. She had no limits or cliques. She just got along with everyone. She was in Glen's year and he's had a huge crush on her for a long time." I smiled a little as she seemed to be babbling due to being nervous. Her shyness was very cute sometimes. "Oh here's Charlie. It might be a little tight; it's only a pickup truck."

"It's alright. I don't mind." Actually, I was petrified. When I had been heartless and laughed a little at Fern introducing herself, Charlie had glared at me for pretty much the whole of the dinner. I don't blame him I would've done the same to me but now I knew that I was going to have to work hard to gain Charlie's trust. I could tell that both of Fern's brothers were incredibly protective over her. I could relate to how they felt. All I wanted to do was kick the ass of anyone who tried to take advantage of her, and a couple of days ago I had acted like the kind of guy who might take advantage of her, and I hated that they even thought I would do that to Fern.

"Hey guys, how was school?" Charlie called from his window. He hadn't noticed me yet.

"It was good thanks. You remember Seth right? He's coming back with us to the ranch. I'm going to take him over to the Fall's this afternoon." Fern said as she got in to the seat next to Charlie.

The pick up had two seats in the front, three behind and then a long open trunk.

The three seats at the back were small so I knew legroom for me was going to be tight. I slid in behind Fern as Glen got in behind Charlie and I saw Charlie glare at me through the rear-view mirror. _Great._

"Sounds great Fern." He said without taking his eyes off of me. "Make sure to take the short route so that it's not dark by the time you get back." I knew by the look in his eyes that his intentions weren't to get us back before dark but to minimise the time Fern spent with me.

"I wouldn't worry about that Charlie. It's summer so its doesn't get dark until nine at the earliest." Fern said, oblivious to the staring match Charlie and I were having.

"Alright… Just be careful okay." He said with a heavy dose of warning.

"Sure… okay." Fern gave him a confused look. "Charlie, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine little sis" Charlie sighed and started the truck, ignoring me in the process. Well, at least I thought he would ignore me but then the questions came. "So, Seth. What brings you and your family back to Colorado?" he asked cautiously.

"Well we were in England for a couple of years due to my mum missing her home country but our entire family lives here, even my English grandparents, so we moved back." I decided to leave out the part where I had become too violent and messed up for my last school to handle me.

"Any other reason?" Charlie hedged. I suddenly panicked thinking maybe he was a mind reader but I didn't want to bring up my issues to a car of three other people so I lied instead.

"Nope nothing else." Charlie grunted a little in disgust. Now I was sure he was a mind reader of some sort. Great he now thinks I'm a liar, although I still preferred it that way than discussing my personal issues with him. The only person I had talked to about it was Fern.

He gave me another glare and then he continued to ignore me for the rest of the ride. I was hoping that either Glen or Fern would fill in the silence but Fern had put in her earphones after Charlie's questions and Glen seemed to have talked telepathically with Charlie because he too glared at me and then stared out of the window. I decided to calm myself down from the pressure of Fern's brother's hatred by focusing on Fern instead. I saw her calm face through the side mirrors of the car and saw that she had fallen asleep listening to her music. She looked so peaceful and happy. Her head was tilted slightly to the side and her thick dark eyelashes fluttered a little on her skin. The corners of her mouth were pulled up into the smallest of smiles and I couldn't help but wish I knew what she was dreaming about.

The truck came to a halt and Charlie and Glen got out of the truck. We were back at the ranch. I was just about to gently shake Ferns shoulders from behind when Charlie opened Fern's door and glared at me to back off. I did so and he turned his attention back to Fern and woke her up.

"Come on kid naptimes over, we're home." He said gently and shook her shoulders a little. Jealousy slapped me in the face. I wanted to be the one to look after her. I took a deep breath and went to sit on the porch steps to wait for Fern. She came round to the steps yawning.

"Are you sure you want to go for a ride this afternoon? I would understand if your tired and don't want to." I said concerned. Although I knew I would be incredibly disappointed. I hadn't forgotten about my mission to speak telepathically to her.

"No don't worry, I always have a nap on the way home from school. I'm just going to get changed for the ride. You can borrow some of Glen and Charlie's clothes if you want?" I felt myself light up a little at her not giving up on the ride.

"It's alright I've got some spare clothes in my tack closet for last minute rides so I'll wear those." I said. I was pretty sure that Charlie wouldn't want me near his stuff.

"Okay I'll see you in the barn in five minutes." She seemed excited. I had seen that same glint in her eyes the last time we had ridden together. When she was around horses it was like you saw a completely different side to her. She was more confident and energetic. I loved it.

She ran inside and I made my way to the barn changing quickly in Athena's stable in case anyone came in. Just as I took my shirt off and grabbed my new one Fern walked into the barn and saw me.

Fern's POV

I stared at him. He was beautiful. His muscles were taut and he had a strong six-pack running down his torso. Every muscle flexed as he stood up straight and saw me. I could almost imagine magnificent wings expanding out from his shoulder blades. I shook my head to remove my weird imaginings and realised that I was still staring. His face showed as much shock as mine did and we both seemed to be blushing. At first I couldn't look away but he cleared his throat and my body kicked into action. I swiftly turned around and started to walk outside.

"I'm sorry. I'll wait outside until your done." I heard the shakiness in my voice and wished it would be still.

"Wait it's okay I'm decent." He called after me. I turned around and saw he had thrown his shirt on but it was the kind of shirt that was tight and still showed off his build. I swallowed and walked past Athena's stable again in the other direction towards the fields.

"Lets go get the horses then." I wanted to seem as though seeing him shirtless hadn't affected me but in truth it had made my stomach do somersaults. He followed after me at a relaxed pace.

When we reached the fields I put my fingers in my mouth and created a loud high-pitched whistle. Within a couple of seconds I heard Spirits hooves racing towards us and looked up to see Athena following in curiosity. When she saw Seth she quickened her pace and was neck and neck with Spirit. I thought her reaction was sweet and showed she had a lot of love for Seth.

"How long have you had Athena for?" I asked.

"I got her when I was eight. She was just over a year old and was being sent to an abattoir to be slaughtered." He said with a look of disgust.

"What? why?" I was shocked.

"Her previous owners had separated her from her mother at 6 months old and had been training her for racing by using oppressive methods. She would always fight them and wouldn't comply, no matter how much pain they bought down on her. She was known as a 'rogue' horse and they chose to discard her. My dad and I caught her as she was running away from the men leading her to the abattoir and I asked to buy her. She could walk fine and there was nothing wrong with her so I asked my dad and he agreed with me, he also didn't want to leave her in the hands of those men, so we took her." He seemed haunted by her past but relieved at her now.

"That's incredible. What you did for her. You saved her life." I looked at him with a new perspective and found a new respect for him. He really did love horses as much as me.

"Yeah well it's more like she saved me. When I started 'slipping', as they say, I should have been a lot worse but she kept me out of trouble. It was when I left for England and had to leave her in Colorado that I started to get in trouble more often."

"That's understandable. Your one true distraction was taken away from you. You've been all right, from what I've seen, since you got back. Are you alright now?" I asked suddenly concerned that he wasn't all right.

"Yeah I'm alright now but I don't think its just Athena that's helped"

"Oh really. What else?" I wanted to know if there was anyway I could contribute to helping him if he ever felt down. He looked at me intensely as if he was going to say something but changed his mind.

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing." Now that peaked my interest but I backed away not wanting to push him.

"Okay" I said simply. I opened the gate and let Spirit out to follow me back to the stable. Seth followed with Athena in a halter. I led Spirit into his stable and gave him some hay to munch on whilst I groomed him.

"Wait, don't tell me. You're actually going to put tack on him today?" Seth said with an amused smile. I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"No, I'm just grooming him. He likes to be pampered." Spirit lifted his head up in a nodding motion in agreement and we laughed at him. "He does wear tack though we both just prefer not to." I explained.

"Are there any times that you would wear tack?" He asked seemingly intrigued by my wild spirited horse.

"Yeah. When I was younger I wanted to do pony club and go to shows and events and I'd put tack on him, but even then it would be a bridle without a bit and I would talk to him rather than kick him and use a whip and all sorts. Gradually though I realised that I too preferred to go bareback and that I wasn't all that into events. Everyone was so jealous of everyone. Now, we sometimes do little shows in the local area but not much. Have you ever competed?"

"It took me a while to fully gain Athena's trust but once I had I gently introduced to a new bridle and saddle. The ones she had previously been trained with had been too small and hurt her, so it took a while but we got there. We actually discovered that she's more of an eventing horse rather than a racehorse. If I wanted to we could've gone and done big events and gotten famous she's that good but savants can't do that so we just do mini events. She loves them though. She gets really excited when she sees jumps." Watching him talk about Athena and riding was magical. I knew that he knew Athena inside and out and enjoyed competing with her and his passion for horse riding was obvious.

"Well there are normally a couple of fallen trees on the route we're taking if you want to have a jump." I said. His eyes lit up and I saw his excitement.

"Really that'll be awesome." He started whispering to Athena soothingly probably telling her about it. My gift taught me that horses can actually understand humans they just can't talk back and sometimes just choose not to react but I saw Athena's ears move forward in anticipation. That's the thing about horses. Their reactions are subtle and fast. The more time you spend around them the more attuned you are to their movements.

Spirit gave me a small nudge and put his muzzle in my hand and I realised I had been staring at Seth and Athena so I gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and carried on grooming whilst humming soothingly to him.

We set out on our ride 10 minutes later once Athena was groomed and tacked up. I couldn't wait to show Seth the Fall's. No one outside of my family has ever seen it but Seth seemed as though he understood the outdoors in a similar way to my family so I thought it was good place to show him. Plus it is my favourite place for forgetting about stresses and worries.

Our ride to the Fall's was relaxed. I was still revelling in the fact that I felt no need to try and fill the silence We talked a little and we jumped a couple of fallen trees. I could see what Seth meant about Athena's passion for jumping. She had a lot of power and surged forward yet she had an air of calculation so she could anticipate when to take off and with the right amount of power. Seth looked as though he was completely in control and happier than I had ever seen him since he arrived in Colorado.

"Hey Seth I just realised something. My mum does a little ranch competition each year for all the people who keep their horses at the ranch. I think it's taking place next month but you should enter." He looked a little exhilarated after the jumps and smiled.

"That would be awesome, I'd love too. Will you enter with me?"

"I don't know. I don't normally take part anymore in those kind of things." He didn't seem to want to give up on his idea.

"Oh come on don't worry about it. We can enter together. It'll be fun." I started to think about it and then remembered what it felt like to be watched in an arena and froze up. I just couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry Seth. I mean I'll think about it but I really don't feel confident enough for something like…" I trailed off as I saw the opening for the Fall's and smiled. "Look Seth, we're here." Spirit trotted towards the opening knowing the area well.

I looked at Seth's face when he saw the Fall's and grinned. It's possibly one of the most beautiful places in Colorado.

A sparkling stream runs from a huge waterfall that cascades mystically down a large rock face. The sun gleams against the rocks as though there are magic gems hidden within them. A willow tree stands by the side of the stream leaning into the waterfall as though they were having a conversation. Its long hanging branches swung in the light breeze, the silver green leaves whispering, beckoning us closer. I dismounted and Spirit ran into the stream and pawed at the water as though he was a young foal again and then without warning he rolled and splashed the water at me. I laughed and ran in splashing him back. I then realised that Athena and Seth had joined us and we were having a huge water fight.

When the water fight had finished Seth and I went and sat under the willow tree and listened to the waterfall. Spirit and Athena were lying down in the sun drying off, Seth having removed Athena's tack. I felt like I was in a movie and that none of it was real. It just seemed so magical here. Seth suddenly turned to me looking extremely nervous.

"I hope you don't mind but there's something I need to do." I was a little taken aback as I had no idea what he meant. I was almost going to laugh but he seemed so serious.

"Okay…? Do you need to go back because I know a shortcut?" He looked a bit confused about my reply.

"Nonono. Don't worry I don't need to go anywhere. I have to ask you a question." He looked at me intensely, which only confused me further but I just carried on.

"Sure what's up?" He then went very quiet contemplating what to do. He looked up at me staring me right in the eyes.

 _Are you my soulfinder?_ The message echoed through my brain like a fire spreading, yet it was a good fire, if that even exists. I wanted the fire to spread because I knew exactly what it meant. I realised I had my eyes closed. I opened them to see a world so bright it was blinding. Every rock face that glistened in the sun or droplet of water that refracted light into rainbows was so beautiful I almost wanted to cry and then there was the most beautiful thing of all. Seth's deep blue eyes looked back at me expectantly. I just sat for a minute staring at him, the most beautiful person I had ever met. I put my hand on his cheek and felt his smooth skin beneath my fingertips and realised that I was leaving him waiting. It was time to answer him.

 _Hello soulfinder._ I watched as shock spread across his face and then settled in an expression that made my heart melt, as I knew he was experiencing exactly what I did. We both felt complete. He took my face in his hands and we just sat there staring at each other. I could feel light tears of happiness roll down my cheeks and Seth wiped them away with his thumb and bundled me up into his lap and held me.

"It's you, it's really you. I knew it was you." He whispered so gently I only just heard and he buried his face in my hair. I realised that my shyness was causing me to hold back and I hated it, so I pushed it away and wrapped my arms around Seth's torso and felt so happy in that moment that everything around me seemed to fall away and it was just me and Seth. Seth tightened his arms around me a little as though accepting and understanding that I had opened up to him. My entire heart felt like it was going to burst with happiness. I pushed back from his chest gently and looked at his face. This time I took his face in my hands.

"Thank you for finding me." I spoke just as gently as he did before. "I'm so sorry that you suffered for so long and experienced so much pain with the cases you were solving. I promise that I will always be there for you. You won't have to be alone anymore." Very slowly and gently a tear rolled down his cheek and as he did for me I wiped it away and switched roles with him and held him as he had done for me. He buried his face in my hair again and it felt like we could stay there for an eternity and never get tired of one another's presence.

After a long while Seth shifted and I realised we had been there for some time, so I began to get off of his lap. "Wait, don't go yet. There's one more thing I have to do." With that he pulled me towards him and kissed me. I had never been kissed before but I knew that no other kiss from anyone else would ever compare to this kiss. His lips were soft and he held me so gently that I was afraid he was going to fade away from me. So I kissed him back and wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close. When we parted we were both breathless. "That was incredible." His voice was a little hoarse. I couldn't help but blush and smile nervously.

"I've never been kissed before." I smiled shyly up at him. He looked shocked at my admission. I felt a little self-conscious by that.

"Seriously? Never? But you're so beautiful. I've wanted to kiss you for days now." I blushed even deeper at that and he chuckled and stroked my cheek. "The guys at our school are idiots although I must admit I'm grateful." If he carried on saying things like that my face might be on fire. I smiled nervously and said.

"I take it you've kissed plenty of girls in the past then." His expression changed to one of embarrassment.

"I've kissed a few and I hate saying it because it makes me feel like I've cheated on you." I laughed at that. He looked so sheepish in making his confession. His face softened. "I like your laugh it's pretty." I grinned.

"Are you trying to make up for the fact that you feel you've cheated on me?" This time he blushed and I laughed harder and kissed him on the cheek. "I wouldn't worry about the people from the past. We didn't even know each other then." He smiled then and pulled me in for another kiss.

We stayed for a few moments longer under the old willow before deciding to head back to the ranch.

"We should probably decide how we're going to tell our families about us." He said whilst putting Athena's tack back on

"Okay well maybe we can invite your parents over for dinner and we can announce it to all of them then." I looked at Seth and saw the glint of fear in his eyes. "Seth what's wrong? Are you alright?" He looked so terrified I almost laughed.

"I'm fine, it's just that your brothers hate me and your fathers not too far behind I imagine." This confused me to no end.

"What makes you think that?" I'm pretty sure that they had barely spoken and then realised that I had been asleep in the car and missed their conversation.

"Well, do you remember that time you introduced yourself to my family and I laughed." I giggled a little and nodded remembering how I had tried to hold a grudge against him. "Your brother Charlie spent the rest of the evening glaring at me and your dad wasn't much different. Also in the car today I held back the fact that the other reason for me leaving England was because I got too violent for the school to handle. I think your brother caught onto me lying and told Glen and then they both ignored me for the rest of the ride." I tried to suppress my smile as Charlie and Glen could be quite protective of the family. Seth caught my smile and groaned. "God dammit you probably think I'm an idiot now, but I want your family to like me." My smile softened at that and I put my arm around his waist and placed my head on his chest. He looped his arms around me in return and rested his chin on my head.

"They will. My mum already thinks your some sort of angel, my dad is really a softy so once he hears you're my soulfinder he'll immediately accept you. Unfortunately my brothers are still looking for their soulfinder's so it may take them some time, but they'll get used to you and realise that your not as bad as they think. Plus if they don't I'll set up some hard-core pranks against them." He laughed at that last bit and kissed the top of my head.

"Alright then, lets go before it gets dark." We both got on our horses and headed back.

We had just reached the barn when a realisation hit me and I groaned in despair. I fell forward and lay along Spirits neck who whinnied in amusement at my antics. Seth gave a crooked smile of amusement and lent over sideways so that his head was in the same position as mine.

"What's up beautiful?" I sat up straight feeling a little giddy about the way he had called me beautiful.

"It's nothing really. It's actually a little embarrassing."

"What?" He now had a glint of amusement in his eyes. I suddenly realised that I was going to have to explain this now even though I didn't want him to know.

"Ugh. Well, do you remember that morning where you helped me with my books when I fell over." He nodded and encouraged me to go on. "Afterwards Faheema came along and started teasing and making out that you and I liked each other and the truth is that… I… did like you." I spoke slowly after that, feeling the embarrassment kick in. We were now in the barn putting our horses in the stables. I had my back to Seth as I tried to hide my embarrassment. "Well… I kind of… sort of… told Faheema I had a crush on you… which I did, and now if she sees us together she will probably tease me a lot." I suddenly became nervous and spoke really fast and babbled. "However, you might not want to be seen with me at school and you know, be my boyfriend so I don't really know why I brought this up because it's just weird really and I was stupid to not think first before speak…"Suddenly, mid-sentence, Seth spun me around and kissed me. It was a deep kiss that lingered on my lips. He pulled away and looked me in the eyes.

"Sorry, you were nervous and babbling, it was the only thing I could think of to calm you down." I nodded slightly and gave him a small smile. "Of course I want to be seen with you at school and be your boyfriend." He suddenly went red. "That is of course… if you want me to be… you know… your boyfriend" he reached up and scratched the back of his head nervously. I reached up and kissed him on the cheek lightly and then nodded my head.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Suddenly from the door of Spirit's stable there was a scream. Spirit fled to the back of his stable in fright and Seth spun around standing protectively in front of me, only to find Faheema standing there with both hands on her cheeks grinning like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. I sighed and looked at Seth "see, I told you she'd be like this." Waving my hand towards her.

"OH MY GOODNESS! I'm so happy right now I could cry. I mean seriously I can't believe what I just witnessed. It was like watching a really cute but slightly weird romance movie. You guys, I knew this would happen. Didn't I tell you he liked you?" I looked at Seth who blushed at that. She continued to gush and I figured she wasn't going to stop soon, so put my hand over her mouth. This backfired as she licked my hand.

"Eewww Faheema! I swear we talked about boundaries. No licking." I wiped my hand on her sleeve and then grabbed her hand and slapped it lightly.

"Whatever, Don't spoil my fun. You do realise that I have been waiting for you to get a boyfriend for me to tease you about since, oh I don't know, we first met." I laughed at that because it was kind of true. Even when I didn't talk to her she would chatter on to me about me getting a boyfriend one day.

"Yeah and the relationship might not last long if you scare him away with words like 'I knew he liked you'" I used a cookie monster voice to imitate her as a joke. Both Seth and I were going to the tack room to get food for the horses and Faheema was never too far behind. Seth was obviously finding the conversation hilarious.

"Um Excuse me but did I just detect a cookie monster voice. Now that is a hit below the belt. I was nine when I went through the phase of talking like that. It was one time and I haven't spoken with the cookie monster voice since." I swivelled around and looked at her with one eyebrow raised and said,

"Are you sure about that?" she groaned but laughed a little too and pushed me gently into Spirits stable to give him his feed. She then turned on her heels and started asking Seth questions that any crazy but loveable best friend would ask her friends boyfriend. Such as 'what's your idea of a perfect date? If you say movies then you are too simplistic and not aloud to date my friend' and 'do you have any hot friends I can date?'

After all the craziness Faheema got to the real reason why she was here and handed over the flowers her mum had bought for us, as we let Faheema stay round so often. She then left and Seth and I made our way to the house. I had called ahead telepathically, asking my mum if we could invite the Benedict's over for dinner. When she said yes Seth had sent a message to his family and they had arrived 5 minutes ago and both our families were inside.

I straightened out my clothes and brushed through my hair with my fingers wanting to look at least a little presentable to Seth's family.

"Do I look okay?" I asked Seth suddenly incredibly nervous. Not only did we have to tell both our families we were soulfinder's but we would have to stand up in front of both of them and say it. Kind of like a brief version of public speaking, which is definitely not my forte. Seth turned to look at me and smiled softly.

"You look beautiful Fern. You always do." I smiled. No one had ever said that to me before. I suddenly noticed the small hint of nervousness in him too as he straightened his clothes out like I had and stared at the front door worryingly. I took his hand and reached up with my other hand and ran it through his hair ruffling it ever so slightly.

"You look very handsome." I said trying to comfort him as he had done for me. He smiled at me still quite nervous.

"Thank you beautiful." With that we both turned and opened the front door and walked in.

It was time to face the parents.


End file.
